Never Alone
by bandgeek18
Summary: After Roy has an all too relevant nightmare, Oliver is forced to realize there are some plans he needs to make to ensure his boy's future. One-shot.


A/N: This idea came from a friend, and I just had to write it because it has all the fluffy/angsty Roy and Ollie relationship stuff that I love. Enjoy!

"Ollie?"

The small and hesitant voice made Oliver sigh. Part of him wondered, hopefully, if he ignored the child tugging on his blankets that he'd just go back to sleep. Then there was a much louder part, which sounded suspiciously like Dinah, that argued he'd be a terrible person and go straight to hell for doing so. Damn the loud, reasonable part of himself. "What, Roy?"

"I had a bad dream."

Without opening his eyes, Oliver frowned. 'A bad dream? Roy doesn't usually come to me with those.' His ward was very convinced that he was "mature" and didn't need Oliver to comfort him after a nightmare. Which worked out well because a year into this, Oliver still knew nothing about comforting children. "Well…it was just a dream and it wasn't real-"

"Can I stay with you?"

The request prompted Oliver to finally open his eyes. From the residual light of the hall, he could barely see Roy. The boy was sniffling and shaking, his face wet with tear tracks. He had his stuffed fox clutched tight in his hands like he was going to tear it apart. "You want to sleep with me?"

"Mhm." Roy nodded eagerly. "Please?"

"…Don't you think you'll be more comfortable in your bed? I can come tuck you in-"

"No! Ollie, I want to sleep here!" Roy's voice was pleading and his green eyes were wide as he stared down his half-awake guardian. "Please?"

'Damn!' Oliver sighed. He just couldn't say no to the kid when he looked this upset. "Ok, ok." He barely had enough time to pull back the blanket before Roy scrambled up onto the bed. Oliver winced at the knobby elbows and knees that dug into his stomach as Roy crawled across him. Once the boy was settled in, Oliver pulled the blanket back down and rolled over so he was facing Roy. The boy wrapped his arms around one of Oliver's arm, his stuffed animal still clutched in his small hands. "Better?"

"Mhm."

Oliver ran a comforting hand through his hair. "Ok. Time to sleep now." He closed his eyes and within seconds was on the verge of falling asleep again…if it wasn't for the small hand poking his cheek. "Yes, Roy?"

"What's gonna happen to me if you die?"

The question spurred sudden alertness into Oliver and caused him to prop himself up on one arm. He quickly turned on a small lamp next to his bed, then turned back to Roy. "What did you just say?"

"What's gonna happen to me if you die? Where will I go?"

"Well… I'm not going to die."

"Ever?"

"Well, not like…ever, forever. I'll die someday. And you will. And Dinah and Hal. We all will. You know, the circle of life and all that…" His voice trailed off as he realized this wasn't the answer Roy wanted. "Do you understand?"

"I don't mean that!" There was a hint of frustration in the child's tone as he sat up so he and Oliver were eye to eye. "I mean like…if tomorrow a criminal kills Green Arrow… Where would I go?"

"Oh. Well… That won't happen…"

"Can you promise that?!"

The first instinct Oliver felt was to say yes, he promised, but he was able to squash that instinct. Because he couldn't promise that. Under no circumstances could he promise Roy that he'd come home from patrol every single night. That just wasn't the way the superhero thing worked. Oliver swallowed. "No… I can't promise that."

"You could also just…die. People do that sometimes." Or all the time if you were him. Roy hugged his fox even tighter. "If you die what will happen to me?"

"Uh…" Oliver stalled. 'I've never thought about that before.' And damn, he really wished he wasn't being forced to think about it for the first time in the middle of the night. His own mortality, the numerous ways he could die between the last time he said good-bye to Roy and the next time they were due to say hello, had never occurred to him. "I- I don't know."

The admission, while honest, didn't appease the distraught child, but instead made him even more upset. "But I could end up homeless! I would be hungry and sleep in a box and-"

"Hey." Oliver put on hand on Roy's shoulder. "Listen to me, Roy, I may not have a plan, but I would never let you live on the street. Understand me? As long as I have a say in it, you'll always have a roof over your head and food on your plate."

"But you won't have a say if you're dead!"

"Sure I can. There are wills-"

"What's a will?"

"It's a piece of paper that says what I would want to happen to all my money and stuff, including you if I die."

"You need one of those."

'I think I already have one…' He was mostly sure it was one of the many documents his family's lawyer had wanted him to read and sign when he had turned 18. 'I definitely signed them all. The reading not so much.' Putting Roy in his will was a good idea. Not only could he assign the boy a guardian, but he could also make sure Roy would be all set financially. 'I should give him a trust fund or something. Just in case.' This was a very difficult task to complete this late. "What brought this on, Roy?"

Roy looked down at his fox and started playing with the ears. "I had a dream that you died and- And I was all alone!" His voice cracked and the boy started to sob. "It was scary and I had to leave Star! The adults made me live with other people, but I don't want to live with other people! What if they're mean?! What if they don't want me and they get rid of me?! What if no one wants me and I'm alone forever?!"

"Ok, ok." Oliver sat up properly so he could pull the sobbing child into his lap and hug him. "Shh. Shh, it's ok. I'm alive and you're not alone." He rubbed Roy's back with one hand. "You'd never be alone like that anyways."

"H- How do you know?!"

"Do you really think Dinah and Hal would let you be alone like that? You know Dinah loves you, and Hal's practically your uncle." In fact, if Oliver was completely honest with himself, he knew deep down that no one in the Justice League would let the sidekick of one of their members be left alone like that. It wasn't some kind of official rule, but he couldn't imagine them turning their backs on Roy if he died.

"So, Dinah or Hal would take care of me?"

"…I don't know, Roy, but I promise, as soon as the sun comes up I'll get to work on it. I promise."

Roy sniffed. "Ok."

"Good. There's no need to get so upset over it anyway because I'm not going anywhere."

"Brave Bow said the same thing…"

The words were oft, but they carried to Oliver a clear as day. "Roy-"

"I've already lost two dads, Ollie. I'm cursed, I'll just get you killed too."

"Hey." Oliver gently grabbed Roy's chin and lifted it so they were looking each other in the eye. "You are not cursed. Do you understand me, Roy William Harper? I'm not going to die and if I do, it won't be because you're cursed. Do you understand?"

"…I guess." Roy moved his head out of Oliver's grip and started to cross and uncross the paws on his stuffed fox. "I still feel cursed."

"You're not, trust me. There's nothing wrong with you." There was something wrong with the cosmic justice of the universe for an 8-year-old boy to think he was cursed to loose paternal figures, but that wasn't Roy's fault.

"Ok." Roy yawned and rubbed his eyes. "You promise you'll make a- a will?"

'More like update it.' Oliver nodded as he carefully removed Roy from his lap and set him down on the bed. "I swear it. The sun comes up and I'll get right on it."

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear." Oliver hooked his large pinky with Roy's tiny one, which felt ridiculous, but it seemed to calm the boy down.

"Ok." Roy yawned again, then laid down. He watched as Oliver shut the light off, then laid down beside him and pulled the blanket back. "G'night, Ollie."

"Night, Roy. Sweet dreams." Oliver waited until Roy stopped moving and his breathing evened out before he closed his own eyes.

— —

Oliver slept in a light doze through the rest of the night. He slept so lightly that when the sun streamed through his bedroom windows it prompted him up and out of bed. 'How can you sleep when your kid's asking those kinds of questions in the middle of the night?' He looked back at Roy and almost smiled. The boy was fast asleep, his stuffed animal laying a few inches from his hands. Oliver carefully moved it so it was in Roy's arms, then pulled the blanket over him. He took a moment to smooth out Roy's hair before he picked up his cell phone and turned away. He dialed a number, then put the phone to his ear as it rang. Considering the hour, he wasn't surprised when it went to voicemail. "Gerry, it's Oliver Queen. I want to meet with you to discuss…" He glanced back at Roy. "my will. Call me back as soon as you can please so we can meet." He hung up, then stared at Roy.

'Who should it be?' he wondered. 'Who can I trust to take care of Roy if something happens to me?' Dinah and Hal were the obvious choices, but which one? 'Dinah is great and she loves Roy, but we haven't even been dating for six months.' He may not have been the expert on relationships, but he was certain that was a lot to ask of his new girlfriend. 'There's always Hal.' They were best friends and Oliver trusted Hal as much as anyone. Mind made up, Oliver called Hal.

"Is the world ending?" Hal muttered when he picked up.

"It's not."

"Why would you wake me up this early if the world isn't ending?!"

"I need you to come over."

"Why?"

"Because…I have something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Get your glowing green butt over here and stop asking questions."

"Ok, but there better be coffee."

'Stupid glow stick,' Oliver thought as he hung up. 'Ok, I should shower and get dressed before Hal gets here.' He contemplated waking up Roy but decided to let him sleep because the kid needed it. So, Oliver showered and got dressed as quietly as possible to let his ward sleep. When that was done, he wandered down to the kitchen to make breakfast. 'A good breakfast will make Roy forget all about the nightmare last night.' Pancakes sounded good, and if he happened to leave the sprinkles container on the table where Roy was eating…well, no one was perfect.

Unsurprisingly, Hal knocked on the door by the time Oliver got downstairs. "Morning sunshine," Hal said as he walked in. "Got my coffee?"

"I never said I'd caffeinated you."

"Eh." Hal shrugged and looked around as he followed Oliver into the kitchen. "Where's Roy?"

"Still asleep."

"Still?" Hal looked at his watch. "Was he up late?"

"Sort of." The conversation fell quiet and until Oliver had made them both coffee.

Hal sat at the kitchen table with his cup while Oliver started making breakfast. "What's so important that you wanted to talk to me about it this early?"

"I wanted to ask a…big favor of you."

"What is it?"

"It's Roy."

"Is he ok?" Hal glanced back toward the direction of the stairs. "Is he hurt? I can give him a med-scan with my ring-"

"No, he's fine. I want to know if you'll take care of Roy if something happens to me."

Hal blinked and looked at him. "You- You want me to take care of Roy?"

"Yes."

"Where is this coming from?"

"Roy had a nightmare last night. He's afraid that I'll die and he'll be left all alone. And I realized that I never thought about what would happen to him if I die. I don't exactly have the safest hobbies, you know?"

"Yeah." Hal drummed his fingers on the table. "You really want me to take care of Roy if something happens to you?"

"Of course. You're my best friend and I trust you with Roy's life. I'm going to revise my will, so Roy will be set financially and you'll have more than enough to take care of him. And you know, hopefully, Dinah will be around to help you out too."

"Why not ask her?"

"I would but we've been dating for less than six months and it would probably be awkward for me to ask her to take care of my kid. But she does love Roy, so I imagine she'd still want to be around."

"Yeah, I see your point. Hal swallowed the genuine gratitude he felt at Oliver's request. "Of course I would take care of Roy." Granted he'd have no clue how to raise a kid, but he'd do his best for Oliver.

"Thank you, Hal. It…gives me some peace of mind to know someone I trust will be there for Roy if I can't be."

"…You're welcome."

Their attention was drawn away as footsteps hurried toward the kitchen. Roy's head popped in and he looked around. His eyes widened when he saw Hal. "What're you doing here?"

"I can't drop in on my favorite nephew?"

Roy looked at him, then Oliver, then shrugged. "Ok. I have a new toy plane, want to see it?"

"After breakfast, we'll take a look."

"Good news, Roy," Oliver said as he placed a plate of pancakes in front of the boy. "Remember what I promised last night?"

"Mhm." Roy's attention was half on the container of sprinkles that was a few inches from his plate.

"Well, if, God forbid, I die, then you'll give live with Hal."

"Really?!" Roy looked from Oliver to Hal, then a grin broke out over his face. He jumps out of his seat and watched his arms around Hal's neck. "Thanks, Hal."

"Of course, buddy," Hal said as he craned his neck to see Roy.

"Eat your breakfast, Roy," Oliver said. He slid the container of sprinkles to Roy's plate.

"Uh-huh," Roy mumbled. He sat in his seat and started shaking sprinkles over his pancakes.

Oliver smiled and ruffled his hair, which got an annoyed swat from Roy. 'That's more like it,' he thought as he joined Hal and Roy at the table. He watched as Hal stole a piece of pancake off Roy's plate and the boy feigned protest. 'I swear to God, I will do everything humanly possible to come home every night, but if I don't, I know he'll be in good hands.'


End file.
